Ball State's most famous alumnus will be back on campus Friday to host a conversation with MSNBC political commentator Rachel Maddow.
David Letterman will ask Maddow questions submitted from students and the general public at 4 p.m. in the John R. Emens Auditorium as part of the David Letterman Distinguished Professional Lecture and Workshop Series.
The conversation will likely cover politics and how the media will affect the upcoming 2012 election, said Tom Taylor, vice president for Enrollment, Marketing and Communications.
Taylor said audience members can submit questions via Twitter.
"I suspect this will be a free flowing discussion conversation, but my guess talking to [Letterman's and Maddow's people], probably looking ahead to the next election," he said. "Some of what's going on in the political scene today will be one topic of conversation, but also how here are two people very prominent in the media, how is the media affecting the political debate? How is social media affecting it?"
Junior political science major Avag Badalyan said he is impressed that Ball State attracts popular figures such as Maddow and Letterman. He said he watches MSNBC often, but sometimes has to take political pundits in small doses.
"I prefer my news to not have a real agenda, no bias, just straight facts," he said. "But between a liberal pundit like Maddow and someone like Glenn Beck or [Sean] Hannity, I would prefer her."
All the tickets for the conversation were distributed after six hours of being available on Nov. 10, Taylor said. People who received tickets but know they won't be able to attend should return them to the Emens Box Office.
People who weren't able to get tickets but want to attend can wait in a standby line Friday afternoon. Any seats that are still vacant in the auditorium by 3:45 p.m. will be up for grabs on a first come, first serve basis to people in the standby line.
The conversation will also be streamed live to digital display in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, the Student Recreation and Wellness Center and the Worthen Arena concourse.
Lori Byers, associate dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media, said the university has been in talks with Letterman to bring Maddow in for about two months. She said each year, Letterman suggests names of people he has good relationships with and who he thinks would be a good fit for the series.
Byers said she was blown away by Letterman's conversation with Twitter co-founder Biz Stone last year, and she is expecting people to be just as impressed by his conversation with Maddow.
"They have really good chemistry, if you saw her on his show, it was really entertaining," she said. "So my guess is he picks people he has really good chemistry with and who interest him, and so because of that, we're guaranteed an interesting show."
The conversation with Maddow will mark Letterman's second visit to campus for the series.
Taylor said Letterman wants to be involved with the series to help make it successful.
"Dave wants this to be a very valuable experience for students, so last year he really came through in his efforts to get Biz Stone here," Taylor said. "I thought it was a remarkable success. We still hear people talk about what a great experience it was to have both Dave and Biz here, and I think Dave had a very positive experience when he came, so he was looking for another opportunity to come this year."
Maddow plans to broadcast "The Rachel Maddow Show" live from Ball State's campus after the conversation, Taylor said.
Taylor said when the university and Letterman were trying to find a date, they were looking at Fridays since "Late Show" doesn't film then, but Maddow would have had to find a guest host for her show. That's when Ball State suggested broadcasting her show from campus since the university has television production capabilities.
Originally, the university and Maddow's producers were worried they would have technical problems during the live show, but producers visited campus two weeks ago to check out the facilities, Taylor said. They were happy with Ball State's capabilities and did a test run Tuesday night, eliminating most of their worries.
"I think when you can bring those types of people to campus, and let our students engage face to face with them, it's just a great opportunity for our students," Taylor said. "I think it's reassuring for students to be like, ‘Wow, that's a superstar in my field, and they're people like us.'"
To submit questions via Twitter for the conversation, use the hashtag #MaddowDave.
To get updated information from student media throughout the event, check out the hashtag #MaddowBSU.
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